Trentonian editorial: Labor v. itself

Let’s face it, coercion has always been the principal tool in the labor union toolbox. Right-to-work laws take that tool away. Twenty-four states have now enacted such laws.

The means to force somebody to pay dues or fees to your organization has long been an un-American American tradition among labor organizations. But the trend has turned against it with right-to-work laws enacted in Indiana, Wisconsin and now Michigan — the Midwest cradle of industrial unionism. Such laws leave the decision whether to support a union up to the individual employee. (Note the word “choice,” a favorite refrain of Democratic politicians in another context.)

Unions insist that choice in the workplace will leave them beset with “freeloaders” who benefit from union representation but decline to ante up dues or fees to support the union. If so, it doesn’t reflect favorably on employees’ assessment of the usefulness of unionization. Or on the romanticized concept of worker solidarity against the bosses. In any event, union fears that their support will dwindle without coercion are not entirely unfounded. When Indiana ceased deducting state government paycheck dues for AFSCME, leaving the union to collect for itself, fully half of the AFSCME dues-paying membership evaporated practically over night.

Nationally, union ranks have shrunk to an all-time low, under 7 percent of the private-sector workforce. To compensate for lost ground, unions turned to mining the public sector for dues dollars. Thirty-five percent of the public sector is unionized. But this approach pits unions against private-sector employes, including unionized ones. Wage and benefits account for major portions of state tax and local property tax bills.

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A sneering President Obama dismisses right-to-work laws as “just politics.” And indeed they may be just that. These laws do emanate from Republican governors and legislatures. But politics is a game played by two sides — and aggressively so by the union side. Unions have defined themselves in the public eye as partisan-hack money conduits for the Democratic Party more than as tribunes of working folk. Just look at the numbers.

Five of the 10 biggest political contributors over the last two decades are unions. They extracted $242 million from employes and redistributed it mostly to Democratic campaign coffers. Twelve of the top 25 contributors are unions, making for a total of nearly $480 million funneled to Democrats. For perspective on the numbers, note that AFSCME — the biggest contributor of all among unions OR corporate interests — anted up $65 million itself for mostly Democratic campaigns. Measure that against the comparatively negligible $19 million contributed by the NRA or the $14 million contributed by right-wing ogre Koch Industries over the same period.

For their own sake, unions need to come up with a more effective — or at least a less off-putting — tactic than coercion. For sure, unions need to come up with a better response to the changing times than the bullying, foul-mouthed, mob activity they exhibited inside and outside the Michigan statehouse, where they comported themselves in accordance with the lowest stereotype of union goons.